Friday, February 27, 2015

Shadow Puppet Edu is an excellent free easy to use app for Project Based Learning and Digital Storytelling. Like the former app it has a drag and drop interface but w/ this new educational instance that allows for easier/safer searching and integration of pictures, as well as no student email account to use.

Below is a list of their other features...

Make videos just like before combining photos, video clips, voice, text and drawing. Use up to 100 images, and make videos up to 30 minutes long. All limits/purchases on the consumer version have been removed and the app will be free for edu use.

Search the Library of Congress, NASA, Creative Commons, or generic web/gif search for awesome content to include in videos. A citation page is automatically added to the end of the video. We're super excited about the potential here in social science and science classes—our search tools make it possible to access and use amazing content from Library of Congress and NASA in a way we haven't seen any other apps do.

Common Core-aligned activity ideas to make it easy to get started using Shadow Puppet Edu in English, social studies, science, math, art and foreign language classes.

Controls to disable web image search. Parental gates for sharing and the ability to disable/enable those as well.

Sight Words is a nice little site that I just found out about from Free Technology 4 Teachers. This is a great site for helping students learn their vocabulary as well as read. This is done by providing flash cards and educational games for kids grades K-3. These games and cards are in PDF form so need to be printed out to use. There are event templates for users to create their own templates and all games come w/ detailed instructions on how to use them and what materials are needed.

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Chronicle is a innovative new iPad that is ideal for classroom management, grading, assessing, note-taking, and so much more. It is a educational tool that educators are using for harnessing their teaching best practice methodologies. It is designed for educators to "Chronicle" each student through detailed and easy to use data by allowing educators to add multimedia (i.e. audio, video, images, etc.) content to each student's progress. Teachers can customize notes and audio clips to each student, and assess students in real-time using a visual "traffic-light" design. Also, it allows educators to integrate Common Core Standards and act as a grade book w/ an abundance of export features.

Storyboard That is a fantastic Web 2.0 tool for digital storytelling w/ educational portal. This portal allows for educators to create student accounts (even batch upload) and assign them to their class via a URL and unique code (i.e. ClassDojo). Not only can and educator create, manage, adjust privacy settings, and more, they can create storyboard templates and assignments for their class. Everything is COPPA compliant and very safe to use in an educational setting.

Storyboard That is a very easy tool to use w/ it's drag-n-drop interface and allows students to seamlessly create a storyboards by adding images, clip art, text, record narration, etc. There is even a innovative slideshow button that turns storyboards into slideshows that easily allows for students or teachers to share their presentations up on a big screen. A finished product can then be downloaded as a PDF, shared via a link, exported into a PPT, or embedded into a site/blog.

Best of all are the new "Teacher Guides" that are aligned to Common Core standards and contain plot diagrams, Q/A, character maps, and much much more. Educators are using these for project based learning, digital storytelling, and in a number of different ways to assess student's learning on a project or story.

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Monster Math is an excellent iOS app/game for learning basic Math skills (i.e. addition, multiplication, etc.). This is done through an engaging and fun game, as a student helps Maxx solve Math problems to find his friend Dextra. Best of all, is the detailed reporting that allows parents/teachers to track student's progress. Also, Monster Math adjusts skill level based on a user's performance and differentiates instruction accordingly. Finally, Monster Math has lots of replay value as there are lots of levels and worlds to explore, and is aligned to Common Core Standards.

I highly recommend checking out Monster Math by clicking here!!!
For a more detailed review check out Edshelf.

Answerables
is one of the most unique sites to come around in awhile. It is a
cross between a Learning Management System and Game Based Learning
environment to deliver a innovative and fun learning experience for
students. All of this takes place in a 3D virtual world (i.e. think
Second Life but geared towards education) that allows educators to
create lessons, scavenger hunts, collaborate w/ other educators, and
much much more. Best of all, all of this takes place in Answerables
safe interactive environment. Also, Answerables can be used by any
curriculum to teach any subject using Project Based Learning,
"gamifying"a lesson, and differentiating instruction.

Erase all Kittens is an interesting online game that I just found out about from Free Technology for Schools. This game has a rather cool concept as it has kids hacking into levels to help them complete the game and rescue all the kittens by editing html code. It's very easy to get started and has students learning basic concepts of coding/programming.

Prodigy is one of the best free sites around for teaching Math by using Game Based Learning. This is an excellent site/game aligned to Common Core Standards for Grades 1st-6th. Teachers everywhere are using Prodigy to assess students through the educational portal that tracks students progress. Also, the game has a unique learning engine which differentiates instruction and helps students w/ problem areas. Being browser based, Prodigy works on any mobile device too.

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Code Kingdoms is a wonderful new site designed to teach students/kids how to code. This is a innovative super fun site that has kids of all ages to learn how to code from the ground up. The way this works is by playing through levels that teaches the basic concepts of coding. As the students advance through levels they will interact w/ animals and use computational thinking to discover new abilities and challenges. Also, a user can create their very own kingdom and have other kids play through them. This is a very fun way to to coding or Javascript to students.

Best of all, this is safe to use for education as a username & password is supplied to each student. Also, there are a ton of educational resources to help teachers integrate Code Kingdoms into their classroom.

Super Teacher Worksheets is one of the best sites around for finding educational resources on a wide range of subjects. Educators can find, worksheets, printables, puzzle generators and more. Also, they are constantly updating their site w/ more resources all the time and recently released new crossword puzzle worksheet generator.

I highly recommend checking out Super Teacher Worksheets by clicking here!!!
Check out the new puzzle generator by clicking here.

Monday, February 23, 2015

Finally, Google has unveiled their latest version (iOS/Android) of YouTube designed specially for kids, YouTube Kids. Today I put it on our mobile devices, tested it out, and then let my kids go at it. This is the perfect way to use YouTube as a parent can turn off the ability to search, and even set a timer on how long they want the usage to be. All videos that are current, have no s
wearing, and nothing inappropriate comes up when trying to search for something not suited for kids.

ProjectWriter is an excellent learning tool that is ideal for teaching and reinforce learning for a wide variety of subjects. Recently, BoomWriter the creators of ProjectWriter released their Science page which shows how PW can be used to create innovative collaborative writing projects or textbooks to build vocabulary and knowledge of the given subject. Also, the flexibility allows educators to use for a single project or incorporate into a whole field of studying.

I highly recommend checking out ProjectWriter for Science by clicking here!!!

Quiz Hero is one of my favorite new free mobile (iOS/Android) apps for Game Based Learning. This amazing app uses an RPG style (i.e Bards Tale anyone ;-) to help students learn a wide variety of subjects, such as Math, Vocabulary, Science, etc. The game follows a familiar RPG formula where users select a class (i.e. mage, warrior, archer) and then begin a fun filled educational quest. There is a ton of interaction w/ other characters, an easy walkthrough for beginners, the ability to buy/sell/craft items, and much much more. As users level up they unlock more features, problems get harder, and more of the quest and areas are revealed.

I highly recommend checking out Quiz Hero by clicking here!!!
For more information check out Edshelf.
For more info on the background of Quiz Hero and the story/game elements click here.

Friday, February 20, 2015

Metamorphabet is fun iOS designed for young learners who are learning the alphabet and increasing their vocabulary. This is a easy to use interactive app that allows kids to pull, drag, poke and interact w/ letters as they watch animations associated w/ that letter. Also, Metamorphabet has high replay value as there are tons of animations to view to build word recognition.

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Door 24 Plus is a wonderful free iPad app for Math fluency grades 1st - 8th. This game is designed into two parts (Snarg Splat) and (Victor Fixer). These educational games work on basic Math problems from addition to multiplication and computational fluency such as, algebraic thinking, number sense, order of operations and more. Both these games have high replay values and are aligned to Common Core Standards.

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Monster Physics is an excellent iOS app for ages 9-11 learning the basic concepts of Physics. This is a fun app that allows students to create their own invention and then interact w/ it. For example, a user can create a car, crane, rocket ship, etc. and then control it. Also, this game has 50 missions that helps students learn the basic concepts of Physics while engaging their creativity and working on the their problem solving skills.

I highly recommend checking out Monster Physics by clicking here!!!
For a more detailed review check out Graphite.

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Code Blast is an excellent iPad app that I just found out about from the blog, Educational Technology & Mobile Learning. This is a great way to introduce students to the concept of programming by dropping instructions/directions to guide a rocket through an obstacle course to reach the finish. This game has high replay value as it saves student's progress, has 36 levels, and 2 different modes.

Biteslide is a wonderful site that I've covered many times before that allows users to create beautiful slidebooks/presentations w/ simple to use drag-n-drop tools. Best of all, it is all done through an educational portal that allows educators to create and manage student account. Educators are using Biteslide for project based learning, flip a lesson, and more.

Recently, they just announced the unveiling of their "Project Kits" that are digital lessons aligned to Common Core Standard.

Here is more info...

Every project helps you teach the key 21st Century skills that your students need for their personal development: critical thinking, communication, collaboration, creativity and digital citizenship.

Each Biteslide project kit includes:

A beautifully designed slidebook to introduce the project to your students

Friday, February 13, 2015

Explain 3D is an innovative iOS/Android app for interactive simulations that will be available for free this weekend. There are 18 simulations that cover a wide range of topics from electronics to machines and more. Users can control, zoom in/out, etc while they learn how different operations work (i.e solar system, car parts, elevator, etc.).

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

BoomWriter is the award winning innovative Writing platform that has students collaborating to create original pieces and then get them published. Also, has a educational portal for educators to create, manage, and monitor student accounts and projects. *BoomWriter is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Telling Time w/ the Smurfs is a super fun iOS app that helps students learning how to tell time. The way this works is through an interactive story w/ Brainy and Papa Smurf as kids learn the foundations of telling time on an analog clock. Also, the interactive story is a great way to work on Reading skills and practice using the hour and minute hand of a clock.

Other features include...

Tutorial for young learners

Identify the parts of the clock

Learn conversion between analog and digital clocks

Differentiate the long hand from the short hand

Read, count and order numbers to 59

Tell time to the hour and to the minute

Manipulate an analog clock in relation to a digital clock

Learn the concept of time as a schedule and its relationship to daily activities

I highly recommend checking out Telling Time w/ the Smurfs by clicking here!!!

LearnZillion is a very popular site that educators all over are using to find free lesson plans and videos. What makes this such a great site is the Common Core Navigator that lets a teacher type in an area code and find all the resources, lesson plans, and videos in their area aligned to Common Core Standards.

Monday, February 9, 2015

GoGo Math Games is a very nice site for finding free educational games in the subject of Math. These games are for grades 1st thru HS and are on a wide variety of subjects, such as: fractions, operations, money and more. Finally, there is a very nice section for teachers where they can find a wide variety of educational resources.

Thursday, February 5, 2015

The Counting Kingdom is an excellent iOS game for kids 6-8 yrs old looking to work on their addition skills. The game works like a "typical" defense game and has kids adding numbers together to cast spells and defeat their enemies. This is a perfect way to integrate technology into the classroom using Game Based Learning. There are over 30 levels, gets harder as the game progress, and has lots of replay value.

I highly recommend checking out The Counting Kingdom by clicking here!!!

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Buncee the fantastic learning tool that allows students to use their creativity to create anything they want on a blank digital canvas, has just announced their Valentine's Day Project. On Feb 7th, the Buncee team will be handing out Valentine's Day postcards created on buncee.com, throughout the NYC area. However, they don't want the fun to just stop there but want it to circulate everywhere by using the hashtag #spreadbunceelove.

Here's how it works...

1) Take a photo of the postcard, and share it online with #spreadbunceelove.

2) Share a buncee from this page, and tweet it out with #spreadbunceelove.

3) OR just share a message online that will make someone smile with the hashtag #spreadbunceelove.

For those unfamiliar w/ Buncee, Buncee is a wonderful tool that educators are using everywhere for project based learning, digital storytelling, presentations, flipped lessons, and much more. Best of all, is the educational portal that allows teachers to create/manage student accounts in a safe environment. There is even a free iOS app, Buncee for Edu for mobile learning that allows users to share projects publicly/privately. Finally, there are ton of educational resources/projects for educators to browse through on the site or app.

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David Kapuler

I have been working w/ technology and education for over 14 years in a school setting. I'm looking for work in a K-12 environment as a Technology Integration/Support Specialist in WI/IL. Contact email - dkapuler@gmail.com
I'm currently looking to get my Mac OS/Repair Certification, as well as a Masters in Technology Integration.
Also, I have a solid background in web design, w/ network/server support.
On a personal note, I';m a proud father of 3 boys and 1 girl, and have been married for 10 years.